Game Studies Download 2009 - Top 10 Research Findings

1. Game Studies Download 4.0 Ian Bogost, PhD Mia Consalvo, PhD Jane McGonigal, PhD

2. Today, right now , YOU will create the official TOP 10 LIST.* * post-GDC Slideshare readers: skip to final slide for the results

3. Like a study? POWER IT UP the top 10 list! Send us your answer to this Q: What game title – past, present, or future – might be improved by applying the findings of this study?

4. Fear of failing: The many meanings of difficulty in video games Jesper Juul, MIT

6. What is the role of failure in video games?

7. Do players prefer games where they do not feel responsible for failing?

9. <ul><li>Preliminary test offline with 9 players </li></ul><ul><li>(5 men, 4 women) </li></ul><ul><li>Second stage online with 85 players </li></ul><ul><li>(73 men 12 women) </li></ul>

10. Those who failed some liked the game the best

11. <ul><li>Failure adds content, by making players see new nuances in a game </li></ul>

12. <ul><li>Players want to feel somewhat responsible for failing in a game </li></ul>

13. How can you show players the nuances of your game through failing at it?

14. How can you show players the nuances of your game through failing at it? Friday, 10:30-10:50 AM

15. Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design <ul><li>Karen Collins, University of Waterloo </li></ul>

17. Generativity

20. 10 approaches to variability in games

21. 1. Variable tempo 2. Variable pitch 3. Variable rhythm/meter 4. Variable volume/dynamics 5. Variable DSP/timbres 6. Variable melodies 7. Variable harmony 8. Variable mixing 9. Variable form (open) 10. Variable form (transitional)

23. How can you use musical dynamism to construct ambience through audio?

24. Relating the pleasures of violent game texts Gareth Schott, U of Waikato, New Zealand

26. <ul><li>2 year project in New Zealand </li></ul><ul><li>Alternative to effects studies, social science approach </li></ul><ul><li>Weekly game clubs, players 14-18, 61 students </li></ul><ul><li>Group & individual interviews </li></ul>

28. <ul><li>Is it appropriate to categorize what happens in games as ‘violence’? </li></ul><ul><li>How do players of violent games make sense of those experiences? </li></ul>

29. preservation rather than malice or cruelty

30. War games the most preferable way of engaging with violence

31. Agency and forward movement were primary drivers

32. How might building in time for reflection change a player’s perception of a gameplay experience?

33. Video Game Spaces: Image, Play, and Structure in 3D Worlds Michael Nitsche, The Georgia Institute of Technology

36. rule-based mediated fictional play social spaces created computationally space on the image plane; cinematic space the space imagined by the player the space of play itself, including the player and the videogame hardware the space of interaction with other players/people

46. How can you design for the space of play between player and machine/monitor?

47. Play to win or win to play? The material culture of gaming Charlie Breindahl, IT University-Copenhagen

49. Jonas Heide Smith: Do Players Seek to win?

50. The basic control scheme of FIFA (Xbox) looks like this: Left Stick: LS -Controls your player’s basic movement. Right Stick: RS -Controls your player’s First Touch Control. Left Trigger: LT -Secondary input. Calls in another defender when defending. Right Trigger: RT -Sprint. X- Lobbed Pass/Cross (hold LT and press X for Early Cross, double tap for Low Hard Cross) A- Regular Pass (hold LT and press A for a Manual Pass) B- Shoot (hold LT and press B for a Chip Shot) Y- Through Pass (hold LT and press Y for a Lobbed Through Pass)

51. The gaming circle The interface The game circle

52. So was the question wrong? Or the approach?

53. Hypothesis: the motivation for participating transcends the players’ in-game goal of winning

54. <ul><li>Xbox 360 player communities for racing games </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Modding subculture </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Classic car culture </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Organized motor sport culture </li></ul></ul>

56. Material car culture

57. Players race to win  to earn credits  to modify their cars  to stand out. Rather than playing to win, they win to play.

58. How can you broaden the ways players can differentiate themselves in your game?

59. Novices, Gamers, and Scholars: Exploring the Challenges of Teaching About Games <ul><li>Jose Zagal, DePaul University Amy Bruckman, The Georgia Institute of Technology </li></ul>

62. Students are less able to talk about videogames critically

63. Recontextualizing

64. Game journaling Explicit theoretical frameworks Writing about the same game more than once

66. Players may not have the tools necessary to experience games critically, without assistance.

67. But perhaps we haven't given players the tools or invitations to grasp them at deeper levels. “ Andy, I saw your mail a while back and have not ignored it, just been trying to find the time to answer it. I've avoided getting too deep into Rand in interviews, because PC Gamer isn't exactly the best forum for an Objectivist discussion...” — Ken Levine, responding to an Objectivist Center forum member

69. The industry benefits from people able to talk about how games matter.

70. The introduction of background information and (perhaps more importantly) its repetition.

71. How can you introduce players to the subject matter of your game to help them reflect on it effectively?

72. ‘ Because it just looks cool!’ Fashion as character performance—the case of WoW Susana Tosca & Lisbeth Klastrup, IT University-Copenhagen

75. <ul><li>The hypothesis: appearance always plays a role in the social fabric of a multi-player game </li></ul><ul><li>4 month in game observation; online survey (n=201); key informant interviews (2) </li></ul>

76. Survey Questions

77. Status awareness and anxiety

78. Channel for playful personal expression

79. Inspirational fashion

80. <ul><li>Fashion as </li></ul><ul><li>collector activity </li></ul><ul><li>Fashion trends </li></ul>

81. How can you be more intentional about developing a fashion culture in your game?

82. How’s the Weather: Simulating Weather in Virtual Environments <ul><li>Matt Barton, St. Cloud University </li></ul>

83. ambiance

84. decoration

85. most games don’t depict weather's effects on the world and objects in it.

88. Weather = slippery

89. Weather is a force humans can't control = opportunity to offer realism beyond graphical verisimilitude offering instead a less predictable and more textured set of everyday experiences

90. How can you use weather as a tool for immersion and interest?

91. (Play) Ground rules: The social contract and the magic circle Stewart Woods, Curtin U, Australia

93. <ul><li>How do players see their role in a game as constrained by the implicit norms of a competitive game encounter? </li></ul><ul><li>800 surveys of players of modern strategy board games </li></ul>

94. “Victory is tertiary to socializing”

95. <ul><li>There are key times when players </li></ul><ul><li>play to lose </li></ul><ul><ul><li>When playing against new or inexperienced players </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>To further the enjoyment of others </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>When victory appears impossible </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>When learning the game </li></ul></ul>

96. How could you make winning one of several goals of your game?

97. Learning in Context: Digital Games and Young Black Men <ul><li>Betsy James DiSalvo, Georgia Institute of Technology </li></ul><ul><li>Kevin Crowley, Roy Norwood, University of Pittsburgh </li></ul>

98. cultural context for young black men playing games in economically disadvantaged inner-city neighborhoods

100. (how differences in game play affect interest in science technology, engineering math)

101. offline social aspect

102. Game Talk Instructional, casual But especially competitive: “ smart talk” or “trash talk” was the most prevalent kind of talk

103. Trash talk grew more important as gamers grew older

104. How could you add layers of player talk to enhance the social interaction among players?

105. <ul><li>And finally… </li></ul><ul><li>THE RESULTS from our real-time Game Developers Conference rankings are in… </li></ul>

106. <ul><li>Which game title – past, present, or future – could be improved by applying the findings of this research? </li></ul><ul><li>You suggested… </li></ul>

107. 10. “(Play)Ground Rules: The social contract and the magic circle” <ul><li>Counter-Strike </li></ul><ul><li>Scrabble </li></ul><ul><li>Boom Blox </li></ul><ul><li>Puzzle Arcade </li></ul><ul><li>Rayman’s Raving Rabbits </li></ul><ul><li>Street Fighter 4 </li></ul>

108. 9. "Novices, Gamers, and Scholars: Exploring the Challenges of Teaching About Games” <ul><li>The Marriage </li></ul><ul><li>Fallout 3 </li></ul><ul><li>Metacritic (it’s a game, right?) </li></ul><ul><li>Metal Gear Solid 4 </li></ul><ul><li>Braid </li></ul><ul><li>Gravitation </li></ul>

109. 8. Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design <ul><li>Rock Band Sudoku </li></ul><ul><li>World of Warcraft FEAR </li></ul><ul><li>Settlers of Catan </li></ul><ul><li>Shadow of the Colossus </li></ul><ul><li>GTA4 </li></ul><ul><li>Wii Sports (seriously) </li></ul><ul><li>Coil </li></ul><ul><li>Knights of the Old Republic </li></ul>

110. 7. “Play to win or win to play: The material culture of gaming” <ul><li>Spore </li></ul><ul><li>Magic the Gathering </li></ul><ul><li>Any coop Wii game </li></ul><ul><li>WoW (especially PvP) </li></ul><ul><li>Call of Duty 4 </li></ul><ul><li>Every MMO </li></ul><ul><li>Street Fighter 4 </li></ul><ul><li>Oblivion </li></ul>

111. 6. “Language-GAME-Players: Relating the pleasures of ‘violent’ game texts” <ul><li>EVE Online </li></ul><ul><li>GTA </li></ul><ul><li>Prince of Persia </li></ul><ul><li>Serious Sam </li></ul><ul><li>No More Heroes </li></ul><ul><li>Mirror’s Edge </li></ul><ul><li>Call of Duty </li></ul><ul><li>ALL GAMES </li></ul>

112. 5. “Fear of failing: The many meanings of difficulty in video games,” <ul><li>Prince of Persia God of War series </li></ul><ul><li>Braid </li></ul><ul><li>Disgaea Any educational game </li></ul><ul><li>Magic the Gathering Prey Call of Duty </li></ul><ul><li>Peggle </li></ul><ul><li>MGS4 </li></ul><ul><li>Puzzle Quest </li></ul>

113. 4. "How’s the Weather: Simulating Weather in Virtual Environments" <ul><li>Rock Band </li></ul><ul><li>Guitar Hero </li></ul><ul><li>WoW </li></ul><ul><li>Oblivion </li></ul><ul><li>Go way back… Midwinter </li></ul><ul><li>Wii Tennis </li></ul><ul><li>Counter-Strike </li></ul><ul><li>Any RTS game </li></ul><ul><li>Legend of Zelda </li></ul><ul><li>Battlefield Series </li></ul>

114. 3. "Learning in Context: Digital Games and Young Black Men" <ul><li>Mario Party </li></ul><ul><li>Any sports game </li></ul><ul><li>The Sims </li></ul><ul><li>Wario Ware </li></ul><ul><li>Civilization </li></ul><ul><li>Halo 3 </li></ul><ul><li>Animal Crossing </li></ul>

115. 2. Video Game Spaces: Image, Play, and Structure in 3D Worlds <ul><li>Any iPhone game Spore </li></ul><ul><li>Cooking Mama Fallout 3 </li></ul><ul><li>Rayman Raving Rabits Robotech Arcades </li></ul><ul><li>Endwar Nobi Nobi Boy </li></ul><ul><li>Left 4 Dead </li></ul><ul><li>Resident Evil 5 </li></ul><ul><li>Rez </li></ul><ul><li>Any mobile game </li></ul>

116. 1. “Because it just looks cool!” - Fashion as character performance: The Case of WoW.” <ul><li>Rock Band </li></ul><ul><li>The Mii System </li></ul><ul><li>Xbox Live Avatars </li></ul><ul><li>Sony Home </li></ul><ul><li>Castle Crashers </li></ul><ul><li>Left 4 Dead. Zombies need fashion too!! </li></ul><ul><li>WoW – how long until Armani proper opens up a virtual shop in Azeroth or the like </li></ul><ul><li>Any FPS </li></ul><ul><li>We need a runway walk-off game </li></ul><ul><li>Team Fortress 2 </li></ul><ul><li>Steven Madden </li></ul><ul><li>Bioshock </li></ul><ul><li>Animal Crossing </li></ul>

117. 2009 Top 10 Game Studies Research Findings <ul><li>10. Stewart Woods, “(Play)Ground Rules: The social contract and the magic circle” Observatorio Journal, 8, 2009. http:// obs.obercom.pt . </li></ul><ul><li>9. Jose Zagal and Amy Bruckman, "Novices, Gamers, and Scholars: Exploring the Challenges of Teaching About Games," Game Studies 8:2, http://gamestudies.org/0802/articles/zagal_bruckman . </li></ul><ul><li>8. Karen Collins, Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design ( Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008). </li></ul><ul><li>7. Charlie Breindahl, “Play to win or win to play: The material culture of gaming,” Association of Internet Researchers annual conference, Copenhagen, Denmark. </li></ul><ul><li>6. Gareth Schott, “Language-GAME-Players: Relating the pleasures of ‘violent’ game texts,” Screen and Media Studies Research Forum, University of Waikato, New Zealand. </li></ul><ul><li>5. Jesper Juul, “Fear of failing: The many meanings of difficulty in video games,” in Mark J.P. Wolf and Bernard Perron, eds., The Video Game Reader 2 (New York: Routledge, 2008). </li></ul><ul><li>4. Matt Barton, "How’s the Weather: Simulating Weather in Virtual Environments" Game Studies 8:1, http://gamestudies.org/0801/articles/barton . </li></ul><ul><li>3. Betsy James DiSalvo, Kevin Crowley, and Roy Norwood. "Learning in Context: Digital Games and Young Black Men," Games and Culture 2008:3. </li></ul><ul><li>2. Michael Nitsche, Video Game Spaces: Image, Play, and Structure in 3D Worlds (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008). </li></ul><ul><li>1. Susana Tosca, Lisbeth Klastrup, “Because it just looks cool!” - Fashion as character performance: The Case of WoW.” Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, 1:3, 2009. www.jvwresearch.org . </li></ul>